Azerbaijan , Baku, Feb. 24 / Trend, A.Yusifzade /
Iran 's Deputy Oil Minister Alireza Zeighami said that Iran has already started implementing plans to find markets for Iranian gasoline, and stressed that exports to the neighboring countries set a priority for Tehran FNA reported.
The National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) has issued a permit for the export of one billion liters of gasoline, Zeighami said.
Iran has begun marketing plans for the imminent exportation of its gasoline, Zeighami added.
He also underlined that NIORDC has launched a department dedicated to the marketing and sale of the product.
Zeighami also expressed hope that four shipments of Iran's gasoline will be dispatched by March 20, 2011.
Commenting on the potential markets for the export of the Iranian gasoline, Zeighami said that negotiations were underway for exporting oil products to neighboring states, including Iraq.
The Oil Ministry also seeks to export other oil products such as diesel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas, Zeighami said.
Earlier this month, Iranian Oil Minister Seyed Massoud Mirkazemi announced that the country is prepared to export gasoline to the neighboring countries due to the excessive production of Iranian oil refineries.
Iran is by now ready to export gasoline to the neighboring countries, Mirkazemi said on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony of the second phase of Imam Khomeini Oil Refinery's development project in Shazand located in the Central Iranian province of Markazi.
He also reiterated that Iran is now self-sufficient in the production of gasoline.
Mirkazemi said the country's gasoline production capacity will rise by 20 million liters a day up to the July 2011.
Iran increased its gasoline production after the United States and the European Union started approving their own unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program, mostly targeting the country's energy and banking sectors, including a US boycott of gasoline supplies to Iran.
After the UN Security Council ratified a sanctions resolution against Iran on June 9, the US Senate passed a legislation to expand sanctions on foreign companies that invest in Iran's energy sector and those foreign companies that sell refined petroleum to Iran or help develop its refining capacity.